Suggestion Saturday: April 13, 2013

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Here is this week’s list of blog posts, poetry, scientific studies and quite possibly the weirdest site I’ve ever seen online.

Jurassic Heart. Imagine going on a date with a Tyrannosaurus Rex named Taira. You two lovebirds will buy a new ukulele and eat lunch at the food court before heading over to a local park for a romantic stroll at dusk. If you play your cards right Taira might even play a song or two for you on his new instrument. I won’t lie, this is one of the most bizarre links I’ve ever included in Suggestion Saturday but it is completely kid- and work-safe for anyone interested in playing. Just please don’t ask me to explain why Taira likes the ukulele so much or when/how dinosaurs learned to speak English. 😉

Barbie Without Makeup. What an awesome concept. In general I find little to no makeup much more attractive than faces that are heavily made up. Of course it’s none of my business what anyone does with their face and I would never expect them to conform to my preferences but it’s nice to see I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Here is the thing: Overt displays of sexuality by a woman do not give you more of a right to judge, touch, shame or violate that woman’s boundaries in any way. But they also don’t mean that you have to act like they are not happening. There is a way of turning your gaze towards a sexually provocative woman that is neither demeaning nor dismissive. There is a way of appreciating a woman’s beauty that acknowledges your own feelings without disrespecting her.

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie is closer to an oral history that’s been committed to paper than a traditional novel. If you expect a linear narrative you’ll be disappointed but readers who imagine this book is a conversation about their own family tree with a relative who has a tendency to slip seamlessly from one decade (and perspective) to another will find a tale worth reading.

Hattie’s devastation at the death of her infant twins from a disease that could have been prevented with an inexpensive treatment she was too poor to afford haunts her for years. As her next 9 children grow up she prepares them for a cruel, heartbreaking world by witholding affection from them.

I’ll be very honest with you, readers: I strongly disliked Hattie as a human being. She’s a cold-hearted, abusive parent who should have never have retained custody of her kids. The repercussions of her “discipline” echoes for generations and it is only late in life that she begins to understand how badly she hurt her children. But she does eventually do so and what happens after that is why I recommend picking up this book.